The World Health Organization (WHO), in 2015, reported progress by many countries towards achieving the now outdated Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Maternal mortality rates however, re- presented and continue to represent one of the biggest healthcare challenges facing low and middle-income countries (LMIC) in Sub- Saharan Africa (SSA), where the majority of maternal and child deaths occur (WHO, 2015). Maternal mortality rates in LMIC are as much as twenty times higher than in developed countries (WHO & UNICEF, 2015). In South Africa, midwifery is under the spotlight due to persis- tently high rates of maternal morbidity and mortality and maternity related litigations (Schoon & Motlolometsi, 2012; WHO & UNICEF, 2015), despite the South African governments’ concerted collaborative efforts to reduce this burden (Schoon & Motlolometsi, 2012). As an example, maternal mortality remains a major health challenge in the KwaZulu-Natal district of eThekwini, with a high maternal mortality rate in 2016 of 124.9 per 100, 000 births (KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Government, 2017/2018). South Africa remains far from meeting its commitment to the third Sustainable Development Goal (SDG), hence it has adopted the National Developmental Programme (NDP) 2030 vi- sion, which, in collaboration with SDGs, aims to cut maternal mortality to less than 70 per 100,000 births and to reduce neonatal mortality to less than 12 per 1000 live births (NDP, 2011). To attain the above ambitious 2030 SDGs, then substantial improvements need to be achieved in LMIC, especially in SSA.
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